Hello, it’s me, Ayman, back after a while. It’s hard to imagine that it’s already Friday; I feel like Monday was just yesterday. I have a lot to say regarding this week – I learnt and did so much! Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?
On Monday, I got to try C++ for the first time. I was pretty excited because I’ve always wanted to try Unreal Engine programming, which works with C++. I don’t have much to say regarding this first course; we learnt about the syntax and some programming basics. It was a good memory refresh on general programming since I’ve been coding for Unity using C# recently. I also went to the state gym for a good workout that day. I’m so happy that I can maintain my routines here.
On Tuesday, we started with the continuation of the lecture on the craft of research. This one was more interactive and we got to think about our personal research. It made me realize that VR communication research is in a very early phase compared to the other two. There are many directions this research topic can take, and I’m excited to see where we’ll go. Later, we had a luncheon lecture with James Oliver. It was interesting to hear about his story and his journey. It was surprising to see that so many challenges can happen professionally, even to someone with a Ph.D. I also learnt about ways to finance a master’s degree, something that I’ve been concerned about. All in all, it was a really nice experience and we got to enjoy some good food. In the evening, we watched Star Wars V as a group. Even though I’ve seen it before and played the game (Lego Star Wars Complete Saga) as a kid, it was still a very enjoyable experience because I’d forgotten a lot of details over time.
On Wednesday, we returned to coding and it got a bit more challenging when we delved into object-oriented programming. I’ve dabbled in it a few times before, but never fully grasped the theory behind it. Now, thanks to this class, it’s different. I was eager to get back to Unreal Engine.
Thursday we had a scheduled lecture with Eliot Winer. When Tim asked him his name, I struggled to hold back my laughter. We’d met him so many times before this lecture that I thought we would have remembered his name by now. The lecture was really engaging, he talked about his research, his life, and other interesting subjects. We each discussed what we’d like to do later. Given my current skills, I mentioned UX or interaction design. However, he pointed out that I still have a lot to learn. Also, I thought I would bounce back easily from a big failure as long as it made sense, but after this lecture, I believe I need to experience it to truly understand. A key takeaway from this lecture was learning about different ways to apply for graduate school and some factors to consider when financing it. Later, we had a meeting with our professor and graduate students. We discussed our progress over the past week, the assignments we’d been given, and our current direction. It was pretty interesting, but also nerve-wracking. I’ve been doing my best these past weeks, but I’m still not used to talking this much. I might tone it down eventually. Anyway, it went smoothly and we set goals for the next meeting.
It’s Friday and at the time I am writing this part we are finally done with C++ it should have been pretty hard, but our teacher was very good so I had no real issue, I will spend my week-end trying to do some Unreal Engine developing now I guess.